The Blackpool manager, Ian Holloway, admits it will take a monumental effort from his players to preserve their slender Championship play-off advantage over Birmingham City.

Curtis Davies's own goal in the first semi-final game separates the sides going into the return leg at St Andrew's on Wednesday night. Chris Hughton's Blues boast an impressive home record, having lost only once at their own stadium this season to leave Holloway fully aware of the task ahead.

"It's going to take every ounce of everything we've got going down there with their crowd and their passion," he said. "I needed a lead, we've got a very slender lead. We won the first game and I think that's a marker to them. We didn't beat them this year. I'm looking forward to it, I can't be worried. I'd be worried if we were not in this situation. I feel my team deserved it on Friday night."

That first leg was Blackpool's first win over Birmingham in five attempts after their 3-0 league defeat in the Midlands on New Year's Eve, when Holloway was sent to the stands for protesting against a red card shown to his captain, Barry Ferguson. But Blackpool boast superb play-off pedigree, having won their past 10 matches in the format.

A dramatic passage to the Premier League two seasons ago, courtesy of 2-1 and 4-3 wins over Nottingham Forest and a 3-2 triumph over Cardiff City in the final, came on the back of successful 2001 and 2007 campaigns to earn promotion to the third tier and then the Championship respectively.

Holloway has rebuilt a squad shorn of key players such as Charlie Adam, DJ Campbell and David Vaughan on the back of relegation last season.

"I've been a manager a long, long time and now I feel like I'm really enjoying this group as well," he said. "I asked the other group to show me their understanding of what I wanted.

"Can we impose our game on them at their ground in the biggest moment of our lives? It will be one heck of an achievement if we do. All you can ask for is a performance. It will be a great night. I'm looking forward to it. The Brummie people love their football. Passion? You won't get better than there. It's absolutely brilliant."

Hughton has described the game as the biggest of his managerial career. He spent many years on the coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur and then Newcastle United, where he was caretaker boss and then manager, guiding the club to the Championship title in 2010 before harshly losing his job in December of that year.

However, the rewards on offer over 90 minutes on Wednesday night makes the play-off showdown unique. "It is, yes, because it's the one right at this moment," Hughton said. "Certainly as a manager it is. I was involved in the coaching staff at Newcastle when the team went down on the last day of the season. This is right up there. It's a massive, massive game for all concerned."